Key facts
- A Russian woman was fined 15,000 roubles for using AI to create a fake bear image.
- The AI-generated image caused public alarm and prompted a hunt for a non-existent bear.
- At least 26 people have been killed in bear attacks in Russia this year.
- Russia's brown bear population has more than doubled in three decades to 308,000.
- Over 3,440 bears posing a threat have been killed since the start of the year.
Russian authorities have fined a woman in the Far East 15,000 roubles ($178) after an AI-generated image of a bear she created to prank a friend went viral and triggered public alarm.
The resident of Magdagachi settlement in the Amur region used ChatGPT to create the image of a bear on a local street and sent it to a friend in September. The image spread rapidly through messaging apps, leading to alarmed calls from residents and the dispatch of wildlife rangers.
The woman confessed to creating the image, and a court ordered the fine this week. In mid-September, another woman in the Transbaikal region received a 30,000 roubles fine for posting a similar fake bear image, according to Russian legal news agency RAPSI.
These incidents occur amid a spate of deadly bear attacks across Russia. Experts attribute the increase in encounters to growing bear populations and a poor crop of berries and pine nuts, which forces bears to seek food closer to human settlements. Since the spring, at least 26 people have been killed in bear attacks, RIA Novosti reported. In response, the government is developing measures to control the brown bear population, which has more than doubled in the last three decades to an estimated 308,000, partly due to shorter and milder winters. Since the start of the year, over 3,440 bears deemed a threat to humans have been killed.